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With the blessing of her trainers Bret and Candy Parrish, Jan Pittman decided to bring her World Champion mare, Ona Good Impulse (Imp) out of retirement to try a new event–showmanship!
Pittman retired the mare in 2010 after the Congress where she went out on top with three firsts and third in the Select Amateur Western Pleasure.
“The mare really has nothing else to prove, but I decided it would be fun to go out there and show her with the pressure off,” Jan told GoHorseShow. “Plus, she hated being retired. She would just hang her head over the fence and look pitiful.”
When Charlene Carter gave a clinic at her farm last year, they discussed teaching Imp the showmanship.
“Charlene thought that she would do great in the showmanship because she is so smart,” says the World Champion pleasure rider. “So I sent Imp at the beginning of the year to the Carters to learn the new event.”
A few months ago, in her debut in the Novice Amateur Showmanship, Pittman came out the winner and also ended up qualifying in the Novice Amateur Showmanship for the Novice Championships that will be held in October in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
“I wasn’t sure at first whether I liked the showmanship,” Jan says laughing. “The pattern classes are so different because you have to be perfect because the judges’ eyes are on you the entire time. It also tests my cognitive and memory skills quite a bit which is even harder because I’m older now. In one class at the Big A, I went off pattern because I made too many turns, and Charlene asked me what I was thinking, and I told her, ‘I wasn’t thinking anything!'”
Earlier this year, at the Lucky 7 Circuit that was held in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Mike Carter talked Jan into showing the mare in the Senior and Select Western Pleasure where the duo ended up winning under all cards.
“We just decided to do it for fun out of the blue and I ended up getting qualified in the Senior and the Select Amateur Western Pleasure for the AQHA World Show. I look forward to showing her in the pleasure again at the big shows. It will be a lot more fun because I don’t feel any pressure to have to win this time.”
AQHA judge and showmanship expert, Charlene Carter, also says the team is improving and getting better in the showmanship. “She has a lot of talent in this class, but she needs to practice, practice practice!”
Pittman looks forward to competing at the Novice Championship Show. “I’m really excited that I am able to try new classes as a novice. I have noviced out of showmanship for next year so my next goal may be the horsemanship!”
